By Andrew Orr Repairs are now off the table for the iPhone 5, closing out support for one of Apple’s most important early designs.iPhone 5The company updated its vintage and obsolete products list on March 16, moving the iPhone 5 and 8GB iPhone 4 out of vintage status. The iPhone 5 holds more weight due to its role as the first iPhone with a Lightning port.Apple will no longer provide hardware service or supply parts for the iPhone 5 through its retail stores or authorized repair network. Effectively, it ends the device’s usable lifespan within Apple’s ecosystem for most users. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By Andrew Orr A thermal pad modification can boost sustained clock speeds in the MacBook Neo under heavy loads, but it’s not something that most people should attempt.MacBook NeoEvery modern processor slows down when heat builds up, so better cooling can extend higher clock speeds. A post on the r/MacbookNeo subreddit says the MacBook Neo’s A18 Pro chip previously dropped to about 2.3 GHz under load but held around 3.3 GHz after the change.Two stacked thermal pads are positioned between the processor’s heat spreader and the bottom case. During testing, the user reported about 5.2 watts of CPU power. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By Andrew O’Hara On this week’s episode of the Smart Home Insider podcast, we examine the new Sonos smart speaker launch and suggestions for seasonal device management with guest Jennifer Pattison Tuohy.Smart Home Insider PodcastJennifer Pattison Tuohy from The Verge sits in on the podcast for the first time in 2026. She’s been a journalist for over three decades and covers all kinds of smart home tech.We start the episode in one of Jennifer’s areas of expertise, Amazon Alexa+. A new report from Wired suggests that Amazon’s new AI-powered assistant is struggling. Some of our staffers agree. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By Christine McKee Amazon’s March iPad sale delivers prices as low as $299, with discounts of up to $300 off new and closeout models across Apple’s tablet line.Get Apple’s iPad 11 for just $299 at Amazon.Steeper discounts on Apple’s iPad line are in effect at Amazon as March hits the midway point, with Apple’s 11-inch iPad available for $299 thanks to a $50 discount in three colors.Buy iPad 11 for $299 Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By William Gallagher Apple has bought MotionVFX, a firm that makes transitions, effects and plugins for the Final Cut Pro video editing app on Mac — and maybe also for iPad.MotionVFX makes it possible to subtly edit footage in Final Cut Pro with new effects — image credit: MotionVFXOne of the benefits of Apple bundling its professional audio and video tools into Apple Creator Studio has been the assumption that they will get updated more. Now with the acquisition of MotionVFX, it’s certain that Final Cut Pro will get new features on the Mac, but there’s also a chance they will come to the iPad.”For over 15 years, we’ve been on a mission to create world-class, visually inspiring content and effects for video editors,” says the MotionVFX company in a statement. “From the very beginning, we’ve been all about quality, ease of use, and great design.” Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By Amber Neely Apple has partnered with the world’s biggest marathon as part of a push to encourage ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary goals.Image credit: TCS London MarathonOn April 26, athletes from all over the world will gather to participate in the 2026 TCS London Marathon. This year, Apple has been honored as the Official Performance Technology Partner.”The London Marathon is one of the world’s greatest sporting events and a powerful celebration of the global running community,” Jay Blahnik, Apple’s vice president of Fitness Technologies, said in the announcement. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By Malcolm Owen After years of rumors, Apple finally introduced new AirPods Max. Here’s what’s changed in the 2026 model compared to the first released six years ago.AirPods Max and AirPods Max 2In Apple’s AirPods range, the earbud-based versions have received the most updates. There have been multiple generations of AirPods and AirPods Pro released over the years, with each bringing in new features to the lines.By contrast, Apple has largely steered clear of the AirPods Max. The premium over-ear headphones have received only one minor update since the 2020 introduction, with a September 2024 refresh switching out the Lightning connector for USB-C and doing little else. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By William Gallagher Six months after public release, Liquid Glass remains as controversial as ever. Apple may be considering some mitigations in iOS 27 and so forth, but this is the future — especially if we get touchscreen Macs.Maybe Liquid Glass is controversial on Macs and iPhones, but you’d still buy one of these Apple Park models if you could — image credit: AppleIt’s not at all true that everyone hates Apple’s Liquid Glass redesign. What is true is that right now, it’s in flux and being changed.There was never any question that it would stay. It was always going to evolve, just as Apple’s iOS 7 so famously and controversially did over many years. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By Malcolm Owen In a surprise launch on Monday, Apple has introduced the AirPods Max 2, updating the premium headphones with better active noise cancellation, the H2 chip, and more new features.AirPods Max 2 – Image Credit: AppleThe original AirPods Max arrived in December 2020, but aside from a minor refresh in 2024 with some new colors and USB-C, it hasn’t received any real changes. On March 16, Apple changed that.Going by the name AirPods Max 2, the premium personal audio accessory looks like the originals from the outside. They’re large over-ear headphones with a bouncy head cushion, just as before. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By Mike Wuerthele The iPhone 17e kicks out the iPhone 16e and improves Apple’s offering for the budget-conscious consumer, but it’s still not quite a bargain as the original iPhone SE was.iPhone 17eThe 2025 launch of the iPhone 16e was a big change for Apple’s iPhone lineup at the value end of the scale. While Apple stayed with the budget concept as a whole, the iPhone 16e wasn’t quite the same scale as how the iPhone SE started out, and finished.For a price difference of $170 between the iPhone SE 3 and the then-new iPhone 16e, Apple had to ensure there was a lot to offer anyone buying it. This was doubly important, since the standard iPhone 16 experience was barely $200 away, and every iPhone 16e downside made the upgrade more attractive. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
